There will be 4 Discussion Board Forums throughout the course. The purpose of Discussion
Board Forums is to generate interaction among students in regard to relevant, current course
topics. You are required to post 1 thread of at least 500 words. The thread must include a
Scripture reference and at least 2 scholarly sources, plus the text—all in current APA format.
You will then post replies of at least 300 words to 2 other students’ threads. Each reply must
include a Scripture reference and at least 1 scholarly source, plus the text—all in current APA
format.
Topic: You are the Human Resources manager for large distribution site. Your recent employee
opinion survey indicated that overall, employees felt that this was a good place to work.
However, recent downturns in the economy have resulted in the loss of large contracts, which
provided a significant portion of the company’s revenue. One of the impacts from this loss in
revenue is that the company will be unable to provide annual COLA or merit increases for the
first time in more than 15 years. You have heard rumors from employees close to you that there
is talk about efforts to unionize. What guidelines will you develop for supervisors to successfully
respond to employee questions about unionization? What can your supervisors say or do that is
legally permissible in this situation?
Response to >>Companies can use numerous strategies to defeat a
unionization effort. Such tactics often initiates when union publicity appears
or during the distribution of authorization cards. Some employers hire
consultants who specialize in the combating of unionization efforts. Using
these “union busters” seems to increase employers’ odds of winning the
representation election. Union prevention efforts can be conducted by
consultants or done by management and outside labor attorneys. These
efforts can include things like holding mandatory employee meetings,
distributing antiunion brochures at work and mailing antiunion letters to
employees homes, and providing and using antiunion videos and emails
(Valentine, Mathis, Jackson, pgs. 574-575).
Employers can also form a “no-solicitation” policy to restrict employees and
outsiders from handing out literature or soliciting union membership on
company grounds. Employers without this type of policy may be unable to
prevent things like this from happening. A policy against solicitation must be
a policy formed well in advance of an actual event, not a single action taken
to counter a specific and abrupt unionization attempt. Employers may also
make calculated decisions and take aggressive steps to stay nonunion. Such
a choice is perfectly rational, but may require some detailed HR policies and
philosophies (Valentine, et al., pgs. 575-576). If money was currently an
issue, my first step would not be to bring in a consultant, however I would
provide training to supervisors so they would be able to adequately answer
all the employees questions, be able to reassure them that things will get
better, while still trying to sweep the union talks out of the picture.
In an article about the efforts of America West to prevent unionization of its
employees, it mentioned that the managers had a great deal of responsibility
in the effort however the HR department maintained strict control over the
information permitted to be provided to employees. When answering
employee questions the managers were only allowed to use answers that
were pre-scripted. Also, any statement about unions had to be authorized by
management and must be consistent with the company’s position (Ortiz,
Ford, 2009).
Our textbook outlines some unionization “do’s and don’ts” of things that are
legal for a company to do and things that are illegal when attempt to prevent
unionization. A few things that are a company is legally permitted to do are
to tell employees how current wages and benefits compare with those in
other firms, to tell employees why the employer opposes unionization and
the disadvantages of having a union, they can show the employees articles
about unions and relate negative experiences, and they can forbid
distribution of union literature during work hours. A few examples of things
that are illegal for companies to do are to tell employees they will be given
pay raises or promotions if they vote against the union, to suggest that the
company will close down if the union is voted in, they may not monitor union
meetings or encourage employees to persuade others to vote against the
union (Valentine, et al., pg. 579).
References
Ortiz, L., Ford, J., (2009) "The role of front?line management in anti?
unionization employee communication: America West Airlines vs the
Teamsters Union", Journal of Communication Management, Vol. 13 Iss: 2,
pp.136 – 156
Valentine, S., Mathis, R. L., & Jackson, J. H. (2014). Human resource
management (14th ed.).
